Rest in Peace, Myra McDaniel

Myra A. McDaniel, who served as Texas’ first African American secretary of state, died today at age 77.

“Myra McDaniel personified the Texas tradition of dedication to her community, from editing her church newsletter all the way to serving as Texas Secretary of State,” Gov. Rick Perry said in a statement. “As the first black woman to hold that office, Myra served as a role model for a generation of young women, many of whom will follow the example she set in service to her fellow Texans.”

A Philadelphia native, McDaniel got her law degree from the University of Texas School of Law in 1975. Then-Gov. Mark White named her secretary of state in 1984.

“She was a good friend, and she was an outstanding secretary of state,” White said. “She was soft-spoken, she had good judgment, and she was one of those wonderful appointees that a governor gets to make that you never had to worry about her ever doing anything that would be unwise… You knew you weren’t going to wake up to any surprises.”

McDaniel returned to private law practice in 1987 by joining what was then Bickerstaff, Heath, and Smiley. According to the Web site for the firm, now Bickerstaff Heath Delgado Acosta, she became the first African American woman to lead a major law firm as managing partner there in 1995.

Lawyer C. Robert Heath said McDaniel had lung cancer. Services are pending.

“She was a wonderful lawyer,” Heath said. “She was somebody that was very wise, and clients and others depended on her and trusted her judgment.”